


Bruises and Band-aids

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Evil Space Dads [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Calling Hux Dude far too many times, Child Injury, Corgi!BB-8, Descriptions of poor first aid, Hurt/Comfort, Hux with neon band-aids is my Aesthetic, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, accidental child abuse, domestic abuse, mutually abusive relationship, the light side trio just wants to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 18:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7768789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey opens her door to find her cousin's boyfriend and son, both freshly bleeding from a physical fight with said cousin, and lets them stay the night so she can help them. Or try to, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bruises and Band-aids

**Author's Note:**

> Neon bandaid Hux is f i n a l l y here y'all!!!  
> Practicing writing abusive relationships so I can succeed with the one in my original story, esp. ones where the victim doesn't think they're being abused and stays. I apologize if it comes off as 'romanticizing abuse' at all, I don't intend for it to be that way.  
> Uhh it's not really mentioned in this because it's focused on Hux being a victim but Hux is also abusive to Kylo in this universe, just emotionally. This is just a case where Kylo physically abuses him. Both of them are bad people.  
> With that said, enjoy :^) !!

**Bruises and Band-aids**

Grumbling under her breath, Rey stumbled to the front door, wondering who the hell could possibly be knocking at 3:45 in the morning. She'd tried to shove Finn to go and do it, but he huddled up under the blankets and shoved his head underneath a pillow, not wanting to. Poe was dead asleep, spread out like a starfish over the bed, Finn curled up in the space between his right arm and leg. She had been snuggled against Finn, their usual sleeping positions. 

As she approached the door, she realized she could hear crying, like a baby wailing. That woke her up a bit and she furrowed her brows as she finally reached the door. Unlatching it, she opened it to find that the source of the crying was in front of her. She gaped at the man standing there, a crying baby in his arms. She shook her head a bit and then exclaimed, "Hux?! What are you doing here? Where's Kylo?" Seeing her cousin's boyfriend and his not yet year old child was not who she would have ever guessed to be visiting her house at nearly four in the morning. Hell, she hardly ever saw him, and the last time she had been in his presence for more than an hour had been when everyone went to first see the baby. She blocked those memories before they could pop back up in her head. It hadn't been a good day.

Hux looked worse for wear; he was clearly injured, with a black eye, a still bleeding split lip, and various other bloody cuts and bruises on his face that were a bit hard to make out. He sighed, "I apologize for coming unexpected, but may I borrow your bathroom, first aid kit, tweezers, and couch until I can find someplace else to stay? It should only be for the night." Looking down at the wailing infant, Rey could see they had blood on them too.

"S-sure!" She stepped aside so he could come in. Hux looked relieved as he entered the house, as if being outside had posed some threat to he and the baby. Now that they were in the light, their injuries were completely visible. Hux's wounds were obviously very fresh, and the baby's scrunched up face was somewhat cut up, and were those shards? No wonder he'd asked for _tweezers_. "The bathroom's this way-" She led him down the hall. Shooting a glance at the baby, which was absolutely wailing at the top of their little lungs, Rey was sure Finn and Poe would be woken up.

Right as she thought that, Poe came down the stairs. "What is that noise- _oh_. Yo, Hux, buddy, haven't seen you in a l- _wait_ , what happened to you?!" Hux looked at Rey, so she sped up her pace to get to the bathroom quicker. Hux definitely wanted to get fixed up, not entertain Poe's questions.

"Poe, can you go get tweezers? Small ones, please, and sterilize them."

"Like the ones I use for BB's paws when he gets a splinter?"

"Yes, that!" She opened the bathroom door and ushered Hux inside. She brought out the first aid kit as he took a seat on the toilet, looking worriedly at the infant. Setting it on the sink counter, she turned to grab a face cloth to wipe off the blood. Hux rooted through the first aid kit and pulled out bandages and disinfectant paste. He set those down and then pulled off his gloves. When Rey turned back, she could see his knuckles were clearly bruised. He shrugged off his coat, which had just been hanging off of his shoulders.

She ran the cloth under the faucet and decided she'd wipe off the blood herself, since Hux couldn't exactly see where he was injured. He tensed up when she brought it to a cut on his forehead.

Poe came in with the tweezers. "Got 'em!" He stared at Hux. "Whoa- buddy, you look fu-" Rey shot him a 'not in front of a kid' look. "-uuuuuull out wrecked. And God! What happened to Mini-Kylo?! Is that glass?!"

"It is what a glass vase my mother gave me has turned into, yes. Tweezers?" Poe handed them over, and Hux set to work picking out the shards of glass. Somehow, the baby's crying only got worse, and they started squirming. Rey made sure to avoid covering Hux's good eye. Finn came to the doorway and peered in, paled, and walked off. Poe seemed like he wanted to follow him, standing awkwardly in the room without anything to do. The baby screamed as Hux dug out a small shard that had gotten under the skin, and Poe visibly cringed.

Rey finished wiping off all the blood on Hux's face and stepped off to drop the soiled cloth in the waste basket. It took him what felt like an eternity to finish with the baby, getting a last few small shards, wiping off the blood with another cloth Rey again threw out, and then grabbed the tube of disinfectant and made sure to get it on every cut. Rey winced at that. The disinfectant _stung_. Surprisingly, Hux grabbed the box of small colorful bandages Poe insisted on having next, and the bigger ones with equal amounts of flashy colors. He bandaged all of the cuts, leaving the baby covered in neon squares. The baby was still crying, so Hux brought them close to his chest and rubbed their back.

Poe grabbed the disinfectant tube next. "Hey, I'll put this on for you, dude. Tend to Junior."

"He is not a Junior-" Poe ignored Hux's weak protest.

"I'm gonna go see where Finn went." Rey dismissed herself. Unlike Poe, she didn't want to just stand around with nothing to do, she'd rather leave and find something else to do.

-

Finn was sitting in the living room, petting BB-8. The dog looked upset, probably disturbed by all the noise. He jumped when Rey said, "Hey there!"

"Rey- stop sneaking up on me!"

"I just walked in the room, Finn. How's BB-8?" The little corgi looked over at the mention of its name.

"He doesn't like the crying. What's going on? Why is _Hux_ in our bathroom with a screaming child?"

"Well, he's hurt, and he was at the door, so I let him in. And it's his child! It's hurt too. Don't ask me how, though. Something about a glass vase smashing, and I'm assuming someone beat Hux. Would you rather I leave him out on our front steps?" Finn shook his head. "Good. Because he's technically family, being Kylo's boyfriend and- what's the child of your cousin called? Second cousin?"

"First cousin once removed."

"And I couldn't leave my first cousin once removed and his father out all injured in the dark, even if we don't like them much. They'll be staying the night. As soon as Poe's done I'll bring Hux to the second bedroom and it'll be fine..." Rey trailed off when an orange cat approached the couch. Finn stared at it too. They didn't own a cat, she'd never even seen this cat before. The only animal in the house was BB-8, and he was definitely not a cat, and was sitting in Finn's lap. The cat meowed up at them loudly.

"Millicent!" There was Hux. Rey resisted the urge to do a double take when she saw him. Poe had covered his bruised face in neon band-aids, and it was just weird to see him with bright flashes of color that weren't his hair. Hux seemed unfazed about it, instead focused on the cat, now identified as Millicent. The cat purred and darted over to him, rubbing against his legs. He leaned down and held out his arm, and the cat jumped onto it, climbing up to perch on his shoulder and rub against his cheek.

Poe gave Rey a thumbs up when he noticed her staring at the band-aids. Finn, being braver than them, asked the question that had been silently burning in their heads. "So... What happened? Did you get mugged or something?"

Hux frowned. "No. Ren and I were arguing. He began throwing things, and when a vase hit Brennan's crib, I tried to physically stop him, and we fought until I managed to distract him. I grabbed Brennan and Millicent, and then I ran out of the house."

" _Kylo_ did this to you?" Rey's eyes widened. "How did you get away from him? He's crazy when he's mad!"

"I... might have shoved him onto the kitchen table, which then snapped in half, and as a result broke a chair and shattered whatever was on it. I ran while he was dazed."

"Dude."

-

Hux looked exhausted so Rey cut off Finn and Poe before they could say anything else and led him upstairs to the guest room. She told him he was welcome to use the shower in the guest bathroom and anything in it, and left to go jump back in bed. She flopped down onto the mattress and pulled a blanket over herself.

Soon enough Finn was laying down next to her, setting BB-8 down. The corgi stepped over to Poe's pillow and huddled between it and the headboard. Poe entered the room but headed for the closet instead of launching onto the bed like he usually did. He rummaged through a duffel bag Rey thought looked familiar, then zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder.

-

"Hey buddy!" Poe opened the door to the guest bedroom. Hux jumped, startled, but quickly calmed down. He was in the process of taking off his button-up. "I noticed you have no supplies for Junior, but I have this bag full of stuff from this kid I babysat a while ago. She was roughly the same size as your little squirt so the diapers should fit. If not I can run down to the store. In the morning- er, later, I can go grab baby formula too." Poe dropped the bag at the end of the bed and opened it up for good measure.

"Thank you, Dameron."

"Are you gonna shower? I can watch the little guy for you, make sure he doesn't pick at his bandages." Hux handed him Brennan a bit reluctantly and headed into the bathroom. Poe lifted the infant up and looked at him. The child, simply put, looked miserable. "You got hit by a vase, huh? Poor thing. I bet you were sleeping, and then the pieces fell on you. What were your parents fighting about?" Brennan made a couple of pitiful gurgling noises in response. "Probably something dumb, huh? That must have been scary anyways." He'd heard somewhere that talking to babies like they were grown was good for them, even though they couldn't yet respond. Educational, or something.

Millicent meowed at him from her place on the bed and Poe shifted Brennan so he could pat her head. "You must have been scared too! Good kitty, following your owner. Wanna be near the cat, kiddo?" He sat on the edge of the bed and lowered Brennan down to Millicent's level. The cat immediately rubbed against the baby. Brennan seemed to be comforted by that, putting his chubby little arms on her in something like a hug. Poe pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. "Wait... oh, I left my phone in my pocket. Silly me, I could have crushed it while I was sleeping."

He sent the picture to Finn's phone, and could hear the shrill sound from the bedroom of the text being received. Finn always forgot to shut off his phone, and jammed the volume up all the time. The rings were all set to the highest possible volume. Seconds later, he got a response of 'poe we r literally in the same home. walk down the hall if u need to do this we r sleeping !!!! >:('

Chuckling, he slipped his phone into his pocket and turned his attention back to the baby. Millicent eventually stepped away, and Brennan, no longer having his hands occupied, tried to pry off his bandaids. Poe stopped him, letting him clutch his fingers instead. Brennan had a surprisingly strong grip. Within a minute, though, he went back to the bandaids, whining.

"Your cuts hurt, buddy?" Poe lifted him up. "Worst thing you've ever felt in your very short life?" Brennan made a 'nnn' sound. "I bet it is. Well, they'll feel better soon! That or you'll get used to it." That wasn't a very nice thing to say, even if the kid couldn't understand him. "Sorry, they'll feel better, I promise."

-

When Hux emerged from the shower, redressed in his original clothes, his bandages were all still in place, completely dry. Poe figured he must have held a cloth over his face. Millicent purred as Hux laid down on the bed. Poe handed Brennan back to the ginger, who sighed and held him on his chest. The cat curled up at Hux's hip. 

Poe bid him a quick goodbye and left. Finn and Rey both protested as he literally launched himself onto their bed.

-

As promised, in the morning, Poe went and bought baby formula while Hux was still sleeping. He wasn't sure what kind the kid would actually like so he hoped the few packets he'd gotten wouldn't all be rejected. He'd opted for more nutritional looking ones, and hoped Brennan didn't have any allergies to anything. He'd also grabbed a fresh bottle, hoping to appeal to Hux's need for cleanliness, and a few cans of cat food.

Hux looked really surprised that Poe actually did that for them. "Thank you. It's really nice of you..." Poe resisted the urge to reply that he was just being a normal, decent person, and instead nodded. As Hux set out the cat food and went into the kitchen to make the formula, Poe reconvened with Rey and Finn.

Sliding next to them on the couch, BB-8 barked at him. "Hey guys. What's the word?"

"The what?"

"How's it going?" Poe sighed.

Finn answered while Rey flipped through channels on the TV. "Oh, fine. Honestly it's like Hux and the kid aren't even here. They only just got up. He was just coming down the stairs when you came in." 

"No trouble from outsiders?"

"What? Kylo?" Rey looked up from a commercial showing the signs of abuse in a relationship. "Haven't heard anything. No calls to our guest's phone either. Check out this commercial. Think we should show Hux the helpline?"

"He'd get upset." Finn nodded in agreement with Poe.

"He got beat up by his boyfriend, and his infant son got hit by a vase."

"Just... hint about it over breakfast. I'll make something good!"

-

Poe heated up frozen breakfast burritos, toast, and coffee. Finn and Rey gave him a look. He shrugged as he set down the plates. Hux was already seated, feeding a miserable looking Brennan. 

The atmosphere was tense as they all sat down. Even BB-8 didn't come near, although the dog usually loved to beg. Rey didn't know how she was going to be able to suggest to Hux that he find professional help. He looked pretty content, his expression neutral. As soon as Brennan finished, Hux started eating without any sort of complaint. Although he did hesitate on picking up the burrito.

Poe finished his meal first, tossing the crust of his toast and a chunk of his burrito way over to BB-8. The corgi gobbled them up noisily. He looked at them all. "So, Rey, how have things been going with your dad?"

She swallowed her last bite before starting. "Pretty good! He's teaching me a lot more about meditating, and it's actually really fun..." As she jumped into talking about how things were going with her adoptive father, the tension eased. She silently thanked him for giving her a way to fulfill her plan. As she wrapped up, she added in, "Hey Hux, have you seen Leia at all lately?"

"No, I haven't. Ren doesn't like visiting family."

"Does she ever call or anything?"

"Not that I know of. She doesn't have my number."

"Oh. That's too bad, I think she'd like to talk to you. About Brennan, ya' know? She really likes the little guy." Hux didn't respond. "Maybe you should give her your cell one day. That way you can give her updates. Or in case something happens, like-"

"-Ren abusing me? I know what you're trying to say." Finn winced. "It's fine. I just needed to get out and let him calm down. He had an episode and I need to give him space. It's not abuse, just an occasional consequence of a rough patch with his mental issues."

"Dude, he beat you."

"And I pushed him into the kitchen table. The situation escalated, that's all. I don't need a helpline or an emergency contact. I've been a bother, so I should be leaving..."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I'll just walk around the city until Kylo calls saying he's calmed down. If not, I can go to Phasma's."

"No no, you can stay here!" Poe protested. "It's really fine. We were just worried about you and the little fella, that's all."

"Alright..."

-

Exactly twelve hours from when Hux showed up bleeding at their doorstep, a heavy knocker was pounding on the door. Finn opened it to find Kylo standing there. He was unmarked, save for his old scar, and not at all looking like he was shoved onto a table during the night. He appeared the same as ever, scowling down at Finn.

"Where's Hux?"

"How'd you-"

"He has my phone." When Finn stared at him blankly, Kylo explained, "It has a tracker in it. I have his phone, so I tracked him."

"That's creepy."

"I said that too. Let me in." He went to step by Finn but the shorter man moved to block him, holding up a hand. 

"You're not gonna hurt anybody, are you?"

"I'm here to take him home, move, F.N., _now,_ " Kylo growled. 

"It's Finn."

"Fine. Move." Finn stepped aside and let him through, then ducked back into the kitchen to be with Rey and Poe.

As soon as Kylo was in he was yelling for Hux. "I'm here to take you home, Hux! Where are you?" Within moments Hux was entering the hallway. He carried the duffel bag with one hand, Millicent lounging on top of it between the handles. With the other he had Brennan against his chest. "There you are!"

Hux eyed him. "All calm?"

"Yes, a hundred percent- oh..." Kylo raised a hand to Hux's face, brushing his thumb over one of the bandages. "You're all banged up. Shit."

"Don't swear in front of Brennan."

"Sorry. How's my little guy?" Kylo looked down at Brennan, and his eyes widened. His hand fell down to turn Brennan's face into a better view. "Wh-what happened to him?!"

Hux sighed, glancing off to the side to avoid eye contact. "Glass. You threw a vase at his crib last night."

"No- I don't remember doing that-"

"It hit the wall and fell on him."

Kylo went pale. "I _hurt him?_ " Hux nodded slowly. "Oh, geez- sorry Bren', it was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt you." Kylo took the baby from Hux and held him close. "Sorry for getting you wrapped up in the heat last night, kiddo. Want some vanilla ice cream once we get home to forget about all your scratches? I bet you do." Brennan made a small noise in response so Kylo took it as an affirmative.

"He's not supposed to have ice cream, Ren-" The redhead started to protest.

"-We have strawberry ice cream at home too, Hux. I'll patch you up and you two can have your favorite treat. Millicent can curl up next to you." Hux gave a single, quick nod. "Now come on."

"We _have_ imposed on your cousin and her housemates for too long..."

-

After disinfecting and wrapping up the wounds that the trio had missed, namely Hux's knuckles and wrists, while apologizing for everything, Kylo pressed a light kiss to each covered wound. Then he moved up to Hux's face, kissing each of the neon band-aids. Pink, green, orange, blue. Finally, he placed one right under Hux's black eye.

"I'll go get the ice cream and an ice pack, alright?"

"Mhmm."

"Go settle down with Brennan on the couch, I'll be right back."

-

Space pilots shot at each other on the TV screen, an old movie Kylo popped in that he knew Hux liked. The redhead, relaxing against Kylo's chest, was focused on watching it, save for the occasional glances down at their son. Brennan was content with the little bits of ice cream he could suck off of a detached bottle nipple. It was distracting him from trying to touch his bandages. 

A particularly loud explosion from the movie startled Brennan and Kylo quickly gave him more ice cream before he could react negatively. Although it made him happy, ice cream dribbled down his face. Hux turned his head to give him a glare with his uncovered eye. It was hard to take the glare seriously with the ice pack tied to his face.

"Oops. I'll clean it up." Kylo lifted up Brennan and moved him to where Millicent was sitting next to them. The cat sniffed Brennan and then started to lick him clean.

"Ren!"

"It works?" Hux rolled his eyes and turned back to the TV, scooping pink ice cream out of his own bowl.


End file.
